Maggie Beare

Maggie Beare is a fictional character portrayed by Ruth Cracknell in the ABC comedy sitcom Mother and Son. Maggie is a charming kind old lady who lives with her son Arthur. She is very eccentric and forgetful. She thinks that she can remember things but in reality she can't remember a thing. She is known to have Alzheimer's disease which contributes to her memory loss and the is driving energy of the show. In one episode her age is mentioned, it states she is around 70 years old which means that she was born in the 1910s or 1920s. She has a sister named Lorna. During the 1930s her family was badly affected by the Great Depression. During World War 2 in the 1940s she met her future husband Leo Beare. Leo was a soldier and Maggie was a nurse and after the war they fell in love. In the late 1940s or early 1950s they got married, their honeymoon was in Katoomba in the Blue Mountains. Also during this period their first child was born they named him Robert Leo Beare. A few years later when Robert began school Maggie fell pregnant again, before Christmas Leo and Maggie had their second child they named him Arthur Raymond Beare. Mentioned by Maggie throughout the show Robert and Arthur would have lots of fights. In one incident Robert swallowed bits of Arthur's Meccano Set and then Robert forced Arthur to swallow bits of his chemistry set which made Arthur sick for a week. Another fight was where they wouldn't share their Grandfather's watch. Maggie stopped the fight by throwing the watch into the bay. Throughout the years Maggie and Leo watched their boys grow up, get jobs then get married and for Robert have children. But in the late 1970s or early 1980s Leo died leaving Maggie distrught. According to Maggie, Gough Whitlam was the reason Leo died but it was revealed he died of cancer. Maggie was put into a nursing home and when Arthur and Deidre divorced Maggie moved in with Arthur. Numerous times throughout the show we see Maggie do some fun, silly and stupid things and also we see her go to England with Lorna. But when Lorna comes to visit Maggie and Lorna argue. Numerous times throughout the show we see Robert and Liz attempt to put Maggie into a home and also Robert and Liz refuse their children to visit Maggie.